Improvement in ejectors for oil-wells



"UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

GEOQM. MOVIBRAY, OF TITUSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO J. D. ANGIERAND F. CROOKER, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN EJECTORS FOR OIL-WELLS.

lSpecification forming part of Lettels latcnt l\'o. 45.464, datedDecember' 13, 18d-l.

lo all whom, it may con/cern Be it known that I, G. M. MowBRaY, ofTitusville, in the county of Crawford and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented anew and useful Improvement in Ejectors for Oil and other\Vells; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, andexact description thereof, which will enable those skilled inthe art tomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing,forming part of this specification.

The drawing, consisting of' one iigure, illustrates the application ofmy invention within the tubing of an oil-well.

My invention relates to that kind of ejector or apparatus for raisingliquids from deep wells in which two tubes and a detlector are employed,a blast of air being forced down through one tube and its directiondeflect-cd upward, (by a deiiector,) and the contents of the well causedto ascend through thc other tube. f

rIhe object of my invention is to render this hind ot machine capable ofsuch an adjustment of its parts as to admit ol' the annular spacethrough which the blast escapes from the deiiector being varied orregulated to suit the variable conditions of the same or differentwells, and to these ends my invention consists in the employment, incombination with the blast-tube and detlector, of an adjustable bulb, orits equivalent, which can be placed nearer to or farther from the mouth.of the deector, to increase or diminish the air-passage, all ashereinafter more fully explained.

Assuming a well to have been boredto the :necessary depth to obtain theoil or other object sought, varying` in the case of oilwells from fourhundred to one thousand or more feet, according to the stratification,it is next to be tubcd in the ordinary manner with a tube two inches indiameter, more or less, ot' iron, copper, or brass. This tubing isprovided With the ordinary seed-bag, fixed at such a point as willeft'ectually cut oft the fresh or surface water from the oil or saltbearing or other strata. To the upper part of this tubing an elbow is tobe secured, so as to give an outlet for the ejected liquids and air.

I prefer to make this elbow of curved form rather than ot' the form of aright angle. A stuffing-box and gland with a tighteningscrew areattached to a screw-thread cut upon this elbow, to enable me to securewithin it a smaller tube of about one-half the diameter of the outertube-say one inchwhich is passed down within said outer tube to a pointnear its termination. I have not thought it necessary to show this modeof attachment, be-

cause it is familiar to mechanics, and is not my invention. This pointmay vary in its distance from the termination of the outer tube. Forinstance, it may reach to within one foot or ten feet or one hundredfeet or more of the lower end or bottom of the outer tube, ascircumstances may show to be desirable orl necessary. Good results areobtained at different distances in different wells. The mouth ot' theinner tube is to be connected with a force-pump whose iittings must beable to sustain a pressure equal to the weight of the column ot' oil orother liquid in the well-say a column four hundred to one thousand feetin height. rIhe inner tube is closed at its eX- treme lower end, and itssides near its end are perforated with numerous small holessay oneeighthof an inch in diameter and some sixty in number-the intention being tohave the sum of the areas of the perforations equal the capacity of theinner tube. These perforations areeto be arranged in close circular-orother order, so as to produce the best effect by means of the airescaping therefrom, and the lowest holes are to be far enough from thebottom ofthe tube to allow a conical cup, hereinafter described, to bescrewed or otherwise firmly attached upon the tube between them and itsextreme end. A screw-thread is formed upon the lower end of the innertube from its end up to a point several inches above the topmost row ofholes-say on a tube one inch in diameter to a point six inches above itsend. An open brass or other metallic tube whose ends are of a diameterto t over the tube, and which have an internal screw-thread cut in each,is now to be screwed upon the tube, so as to be entirely above'and clearofthe perforations. This tube nearly resembles a form described as madeup of two truncated cones united at their bases. Its diameter increasesfrom each end toward the center of its length,where it is enlarged to abulb,which so nearly fills the outer tube that an annular space onlyone-sixteenth to one-eighth of an inch in width is left between theirsides. Another brass or other metallic tube, in form resembling atruncated cone with irregular sides, is next screwed upon the end of theinner tube below the perforations, and it is to be of such a length asto extend nearly to the bulb or enlarged diameter of the tube above theholes, and its diameter at its base is to be about equal to the diameterof the bulb, leaving, also,a like annular space between its sides andthe interior of the outer tube, and of about the samewidth. This tube ldesignate a de- Hector.

The adjustment ofthe parts ofthe above-described ejector and bulb andtheir relative distances apart and the relative diameters of the outerand inner tubing are dependent upon the height of the column of liquidto belifted, having reference always to the power and capacity of theair-forcing pump.

lIhis invention is likewise applicable where the rock is of a compactnature, so that the outer tubing can be dispensed with, it only beingnecessary in such cases to use an air tube and ejector of suitableproportions combined with an air-pump of the necessary capacity.

A in the ligure represents a portion of the outer tube, B, the lowerportion of the inner tube having a screw-thread cut upon it. D is'theconical brass tube,screwed to the end of the inner tube, B. It extendsupward over expand nearly to the inner circumference of the outer tube,

The operation of the apparatus is as follows The tubes being in properposition in the well, air is forced into the inner tube, B, by means ofan airorcing pump. The air willbecome compressed in the tube B,and willissue therefrom at the` perforations a into the channel formed by thebrass tube D, which incloses them, and will be discharged at its mouth dinto the annular space b with great velocity, causing a Vaccum to beformed in the annular space f, formed between the conical tube D and theouter tube, A, and thereby compelling an upward current of any fluid orliquid which Vmay be found in the said annular space f. The continuedpressure ofthe air in the inner tube, B, causes the air-currents issuingfrom the mouth d of the ejector to lift mechanically the column of air,or water, or oil which may occupy the annular space b at the con1-mencement ofthe operation, and to discharge it at the place of dischargeof said outer tube, A. A current of whatever fluid may be present in thespacef below the ejector will be established in an upward direction tosupply the space of that forced upward, as already described, and thus,so long as the pump is worked, a continuous discharge will take place atthe outlet of the lannular space of oil or other liquid mixed with theascending forced current of air.

Having fully described the construction and operation of my improvedejector, what l claim therein as new, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is- Q The employment, in connection with the blast-tube anddeliector, ofan adjustable bulb, or its equivalent, substantially asdescribed, for' the purpose set forth.

GEO. M. MOVVBRAY.

Witnesses:

XVM. I. MCNAMARA, THEO. TUsCH.

